One to Buy: Unique Aluminium-bodied 2015 Bugatti 16.4 Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012, the Grand Sport Vitesse was conceived as an open top version of the Veyron Super Sport which had turned Bugatti’s already formidable base car into an even faster, even more powerful proposition.
Most notably equipped with uprated aero kit, an all-carbonfibre body and an engine tuned to develop 1183bhp (as opposed to just 987bhp), the Super Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse represented a simply unmatched proposition during the early to mid 2010s.
Of the 450 Veyrons built between 2005 and 2015, just 92 were completed to Grand Sport Vitesse trim and Bugatti offered practically any level of customisation so long as the customer’s pockets were deep enough to cope.
The perfect example of the lengths Bugatti were go to in order to satisfy their patrons is Grand Sport Vitesse chassis 8.100, currently on offer at the Mechatronik showroom in Pleidelsheim.
Ordered in 2014 by the same buyer that had acquired the one-off 2009 Veyron Bleu Centenaire along with one of all six Grand Sport Vitesse Legend series, the customer wanted a body milled entirely from ultra highly polished single piece sections of aluminium which required blocks of up to 20 tons to be delivered to Molsheim.
The final bill was more than double the already considerable list price of a Grand Sport Vitesse with 8.100 emerging in 2015 as the most expensive Veyron ever produced.
Having covered just 750km from new, this one owner machine is offered in as new condition.
Reprinted below is Mechatronik’s description:
Documented to be the most elaborate and expensive Bugatti Veyron ever built
Bodywork out of milled and then polished aluminium - the only Veyron ever built in this unique way of coachbuilding
Complete one-off from first ownership
Only 750 KM driven since delivery
Extensively documented
Presented to the public for the first time
Chassis 8.100 was ordered directly from Bugatti in Molsheim in 2014 by its first and only owner. He was one of Bugatti's most important customers at the time.
The idea behind this Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse project was to create the most elaborate and fascinating version of what was possible at the time. The finished Bugatti was to be the most special Veyron and the most extreme and unique version ever built.
The designers, which included head of design Achim Anscheidt and color and trim designer Laurent Chevalley, developed an idea for the customer that would not only make perfect use of the proportions of all the different variants of a color split of the Veyron, but also meet the customer's request for a very clean design using original materials, preferably without paint, inspired by the Veyron 16.4 Pur Sang.
It was discussed that the color split of the Pur Sang's body and similar materials would provide the most stunning result, and that the shape of the car would benefit most when combined with an eye-catching, contrasting interior.
Only 5 examples of the original Pur Sang, the first special edition of the Veyron in 2007, were built. These all-aluminum and carbon versions were built with a carbon center section and polished aluminum sides. For homologation reasons, some of these cars did not have an aluminum front bumper, but a painted one. Due to the size of some of the side panels, the aluminum parts were welded together. These weld seams were polished by hand, but were still visible.
For the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse chassis 8.100, this was not an option for the owner. The customer wanted the front bumper to be made entirely of aluminum, and he also did not accept the side panels being welded together.
His order form specified that all parts should be made from a single piece of aluminum. This meant that a special CAD program had to be written by the Bugatti engineers to mill all the aluminum parts from a single block.
The calculations were done at Bugatti Engineering in Wolfsburg, Germany, and it was determined that blocks of over 20 tons of aluminum would be needed. It turned out that the production costs for this car would be astronomically high and also far above the sales price originally agreed with the customer. So Bugatti decided to confront the customer with the sad news that his configuration had been withdrawn and that he would have to change the configuration of the car to a more practical version for production.
Bugatti wanted to cancel the order and withdraw from the contract for the reasons mentioned. As mentioned, the customer was one of Bugatti's most important customers at the time. He was also the original customer of the “Bugatti Centenaire” and also ordered one of each of the six Bugatti Grand Sport Vitesse of the “Legends” series: Jean Pierre Wimille, Jean Bugatti, Meo Costantini, Rembrandt Bugatti, Roland Garros and the last car - Ettore Bugatti. He was the only customer to buy all six examples of this special series - three of each were built.
So not only did he threaten to cancel all his standing orders (six Legends and several Super Sport editions), he also threatened not to buy any more cars from Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. if this all-aluminum car was not built to the specification he had originally accepted after discussing the details with the Bugatti designers.
Any form of compromise was categorically rejected. So it was finally decided to build the car to the original specification, with the then extremely difficult 6K 90 degree woven carbon parts and the body panels milled from solid and polished.
The car was completed in the spring of 2015 and was the most extreme and time-consuming Bugatti Veyron version ever built. The total amount of options of chassis 8,100 were higher than the list price of a “standard” Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse.
Without doubt, this car marks the pinnacle of Bugatti Veyron manufacture and is the highlight of any Bugatti collection. Our sales staff will be happy to answer any detailed questions you may have.
